Finding Feltmaking Inspiration in the Beautiful Tree Canopies

Annie

While I’ve been out walking recently I’ve spent a lot of time looking up at the beautiful tree canopies, and it has made me want to make some felted pieces on the subject. I’ve made many felt samples over the years and I like to dig through them to pick out ones that might feed into new work. I’ve chosen a few pieces as a starter to use as inspiration to make something new, and printed out a few photos.

The blue felted piece is evocative of the tree canopy as it is very sparse in places, but then has the heavy dark yarns laid into it, which could be branches - it does lend itself well to an abstract tree canopy. Various passages in all the samples could be interesting to explore further.  For me it’s mostly about the colours, shapes, textures and feelings, I’m not worried if the work doesn’t look like the subject, it just has to evoke the idea or memory of it.

The next photo is of a painting I started on a course at West Dean College back in 2018, I must get my sketches out and maybe one day finish that painting!  Meantime it serves as further composition inspiration.

While rummaging about in previous works and samples I felt quite inspired to think that we might start making work to sell again - me & mum used to sell our felted artwork and 3D items in a gallery in Dorset.  In the meantime I have had spent some happy hours cutting up one or two works from recent years and making new compositions from them and re-felting them etc. 

Now all we need to do is finish more, and find some good quality backing boards, mounts and sturdy mailers...  here are two finished pictures sat on top of some white board (not the right size, just for the photo purposes!) ....

......although not sure I want to part with them!